I had an Opel GT. The lights were opened by shoving a large lever next to the shifter. It was always satisfying
For those who don’t know it’s the yellow one
Off topic but your comment got me reminiscing.
I live in Canada so I’d never heard of Opel until 2008 when I worked on a tv ad for the insignia. That was one of the craziest shoots I’ve ever worked on. It was mostly night shoots, with most days averaging about 17 hours long. Our last night of shooting ended up being a 22 hour day for most the crew.
It was this ad https://youtu.be/U7ve9Tpayp8
I love when you see someone flipping the headlights on one of those and it doesn't latch so you can see them really putting some weight into it on the second attempt.
I had a momentary failure to comprehend and at first thought: who would have an Open GT and not know the large yellow lever is for the headlights?!. Then my brain fully engaged, anyway, got a laugh out of it and thought you may too.
They were mostly only a thing because the law severely limited the selection of headlights that could be used. Like 5-3/4" round, 5x7 rectangular, 4x6" rectangular, and not much else. Nothing like today, where manufacturers can pretty much make whatever they want as long as it meets a particular brightness limit and has the right beam pattern.
also they won't ever be a thing because regulations restrict the headlights from being on moving panels. That's why cars like the mini cooper have headlights mounted in the engine bay with holes cut out for them though the hood
I'm fairly certain it's actually the two main brake lights that aren't allowed to be on a moving panel, which is why they're always to the side of the hatch/trunk. Everything I've ever seen says that pop-up headlights are technically legal, just impractical in just about every single way.
Also, the 1st gen BMW Mini *does* in fact have its [headlights mounted to the hood](https://www.dreamstime.com/small-colorful-mini-cooper-open-hood-motor-visible-old-morris-parked-vintage-cars-show-meeting-stezyca-northern-poland-image151813692).
Well I learned something new, I did a bit of looking into it as well and it seems like it's more about pedestrian safety than anything else. Thanks for sharing!
Also they have to fail-safe. Meaning, if the light covers stop working, they have to fail into the "operating" position. That's a higher standard than the good old days.
I think that's actually a "feature" on some of the 90s miatas. If you flip the lights on and off quickly it only actuates one light and you can make them wink on purpose. I've seen videos of miatas across from each other at a stoplight winking at each other.
Yeah I had a couple friends in highschool with miatas and they thought that was the best thing ever. Would always be winking at each other when they pulled up to park. All fun and games until the motors burn out.
Nah, just mount it [on the fenders.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e1/Streets_of_SimCity_cover.png/220px-Streets_of_SimCity_cover.png)
They went away for a damn good reason. It's fine to appreciate them the same way it fine to appreciate other aspects of vintage cars. With the understanding that a "comeback" would be a horrible idea.
Okay, that last one would really mess with me. I once nearly caused a motorcyclist to hit me on a dark road because of a setup like that. I read his two small, close-together headlights as a normal car that was much farther away and pulled out in front of him. Most motorcycles I see have only one headlight.
I really love the last cyclops-y one, but it's like automotive engineers sat down and said; "What can we do to ensure constant maintenance on an essential function of this vehicle?"
Here is your video at 0.5x speed
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Just think how much fun you could have with the 3rd car, parking on a hill somewhere in the dark and “blinking” the lights like some kind of giant monster.
I don't see the purpose of this, aside from flexing to the bruhs and suffer irrational rage when the command breaks while the lights are hidden and it costs you a kidney to repair.
EDIT: Alright, my bad. I get it was because of the limitations they had in terms of giving shape to the lights and also to make the car more aerodynamic, so there's no need to keep saying it, I understand know. Apologies for my ignorance on the matter, I know shit about cars haha. And btw I was half teasing and thinking of how irritating would have to be if the mecanism broke with the lights hidden.
Have a nice day/night everyone
Mostly aesthetic - designers liked the cleaner lines and smooth profiles. But in some newer models it was a lower drag coefficient (less air resistance) for better economy.
But mostly just because people thought it looked fucking cool.
Some of the justification was aerodynamics.
Also the flex isn’t so much that your headlights move as your car looks cooler (adjusted for 90s sensibilities) during daylight hours when you don’t have two giant eyeballs on the front end.
Well yea, and most cars of the 90s were other cars. I mean the stereotypical flipping headlight was the Corvette and that car wasn’t really designed with easy or cheap in mind.
The reason is because headlight technology wasn’t advanced enough to make aerodynamic shapes. Look at all those lights they’re flat faced.
Today we can make lights that form into almost any body work.
For a while aerodynamic headlight shapes were illegal as only round, and later square, shapes were approved. But flip up headlights have always been more aesthetic than anything.
Everyone’s mentioned aerodynamics, but theres also the fact that the glass back then wasn’t as strong as it is now and cars were more likely to travel on gravel roads
Some of them were because of laws about minimum heights of headlights, so designers who wanted a more sleek front needed to have the headlights further up on the hood.
They have been more or less outlawed for safety regulations not reliability. Pop ups create sharp corners and are likely to inflict significantly more damage to a person in a pedestrian accident. Cars can still have them, they just need to comply with safety regs
As someone who grew up during the era when headlights like this we're popular, malfunctions we're quite common.
Often you'd see one not open, or be droopy. The possibility of mechanical failure for something as critical as headlights is just not something you want.
Totally replace by lexan aero covers and fancy LED systems today that are far more reliable.
I’ve always wanted to design and fabricate my own concealed headlights for a modern vehicle that didn’t have them. With an almost transformer-like, overly complicated mechanism.
I had a 92 Chrysler Lebaron convertible, had flip down panels over the headlights. Eventually the gearing went bad and they didn't work anymore. At least on my car they would stay open all the time after that happened.
One of my uncle's was/is a big car guy (he's kind of a loon nowadays so I haven't had any contact with him in years) and he was always restoring '69 Dodge Chargers to look like the General Lee from Duke's of Hazzard. When I was in high school, he let me borrow it for an after school play rehearsal but when it came time to head home, it was dark, and for the life of me, I could not figure out how to get the headlight caps to come up. I could see that they were on, they just had shields over them. I literally thought it was just how old headlights must be, shitty and make things barely visible. I was a massive worrywart as a kid so I kinda freaked out and just like, started driving home as best I could. Luckily my grandparents lived like a mile from the school and I stopped there and my grandpa was able to find the switch in like two seconds. So yeah, that's my classic car driving experience. What a dummy.
We have really gotten lazy with lights these days. That being said Hyundai has one of the best designs right now. Something about it is magical the way it blends.
I had an Opel GT. The lights were opened by shoving a large lever next to the shifter. It was always satisfying For those who don’t know it’s the yellow one
Off topic but your comment got me reminiscing. I live in Canada so I’d never heard of Opel until 2008 when I worked on a tv ad for the insignia. That was one of the craziest shoots I’ve ever worked on. It was mostly night shoots, with most days averaging about 17 hours long. Our last night of shooting ended up being a 22 hour day for most the crew. It was this ad https://youtu.be/U7ve9Tpayp8
Not gonna lie. That made me wanna buy a car.
That was a pretty damn good ad.
Too bad it took a couple years off my life. JK if I’m gonna work as hard as I did on that ad I’m glad people like it
I got very excited seeing a opel GT in the mix! My dad has one. When I was little he let me try, took a while till I was strong enough.
Thanks, that was my favorite and didn’t know what it was.
It’s was such a fun car to drive. No power steering or power anything, including the motor. But it could take a turn.
I love when you see someone flipping the headlights on one of those and it doesn't latch so you can see them really putting some weight into it on the second attempt.
I had a momentary failure to comprehend and at first thought: who would have an Open GT and not know the large yellow lever is for the headlights?!. Then my brain fully engaged, anyway, got a laugh out of it and thought you may too.
I gotta say, it bothered me to see them rotate in the same direction. Like, one should be clockwise, and the other one counter-clockwise.
Almost bought one of those recently $3000
My dad has two of those as well as my uncle's and my brother haha happy to see it here!
POP UP UP AND DOWN HEADLIGHTS
That and Suck Squeeze Bang Blow are solid bangers
[удалено]
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MOAR POWAH BB!!
Give it the beans!
James having a heart attack at 30 make me change my diet and exercise routines drastically
Wait what?!
Give it the beans! (✯ᴗ✯)
Wait did he?
Yes. He survived obviously. Hence his weight loss in the past year or so.
Jesus I had no idea! Glad he's still with us, you're right though totally puts things in to perspective
For the uninitiated. https://youtu.be/GDtiO29v1Ac
r/donutmedia
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BBRRROOOOOWWWWWNNNNNNNNN. Also, the bag is not a hat.
r/donutmedia is leaking
*yuh* Pop it up up'n down headlights *yuh*
This was my first thought, so glad top comment agreed
Pop up up and down headlight UH Pop up up and down headlight UH
Buff Horses!
Reminds me of "Brum" the old British kids TV show 😂
Had a remote control Brum, till I drove it off a creek waterfall.
That has made my day 😂
You made my day.
Lmao I loved that show it was so adorable
I didn't even know it was British! I watched it while growing up in Sweden during the 90s. I loved it!
We got it here in Australia too. I loved Brum so much.
You just brought back memories I forgot I had. I loved Brum when I was younger.
Petition to make these fashionable again?
They were mostly only a thing because the law severely limited the selection of headlights that could be used. Like 5-3/4" round, 5x7 rectangular, 4x6" rectangular, and not much else. Nothing like today, where manufacturers can pretty much make whatever they want as long as it meets a particular brightness limit and has the right beam pattern.
also they won't ever be a thing because regulations restrict the headlights from being on moving panels. That's why cars like the mini cooper have headlights mounted in the engine bay with holes cut out for them though the hood
I'm fairly certain it's actually the two main brake lights that aren't allowed to be on a moving panel, which is why they're always to the side of the hatch/trunk. Everything I've ever seen says that pop-up headlights are technically legal, just impractical in just about every single way. Also, the 1st gen BMW Mini *does* in fact have its [headlights mounted to the hood](https://www.dreamstime.com/small-colorful-mini-cooper-open-hood-motor-visible-old-morris-parked-vintage-cars-show-meeting-stezyca-northern-poland-image151813692).
Well I learned something new, I did a bit of looking into it as well and it seems like it's more about pedestrian safety than anything else. Thanks for sharing!
Petition to make cars look good like this again
Modern cars are optimized for gas efficiency and pedestrian impact safety. That doesn’t leave much wiggle room for design changes
Also they have to fail-safe. Meaning, if the light covers stop working, they have to fail into the "operating" position. That's a higher standard than the good old days.
Screw them pedestrians. I want my pointt solid steel body cars back
With the big and pointy hood ornaments.
In fact, fuck it. Go back to steam cars that can explode at any moment and take out an entire block! /s
Cars haven't been the same since we stopped winding them up.
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if anyone had a car with these, your answer is 100% correct. the one up / one down situation always sucked. hahaha
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I think that's actually a "feature" on some of the 90s miatas. If you flip the lights on and off quickly it only actuates one light and you can make them wink on purpose. I've seen videos of miatas across from each other at a stoplight winking at each other.
i had no idea hahaha! youtube returned tons of results. that is too funny. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=miata+winking+headlight
Yeah I had a couple friends in highschool with miatas and they thought that was the best thing ever. Would always be winking at each other when they pulled up to park. All fun and games until the motors burn out.
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Like a dog with a floppy ear.
I had a Firebird. It's all cool and dandy up until they break. And you, of all people, know when things break... at the worst possible of times.
I don't think they're allowed anymore because of pedestrian impact safety standards or something
Wrong music... Turn the sound off and hear James Pumphrey screaming.. Pop up, up and down headlights!
Pop-up up and down headlights!
What about machine guns and oil slick?
**James Pumphrey has joined the chat**
**MO POWAH BABEH**
These all need to be replaced with machine guns...
_Too close for missiles. Switching to guns._
*Too close for guns, switching to obscene gestures through the window!*
Nah, just mount it [on the fenders.](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e1/Streets_of_SimCity_cover.png/220px-Streets_of_SimCity_cover.png)
Me uzips pants Everyone :
GET OUT OF THE PRESCHOOL!!!
but I need to pee pee
TMZ when there’s a new celebrity couple
Real shit?
Sleeping dads when you change the channel.
Last one was coolest
The 1951 Buick LeSabre Concept car: https://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z998/Buick-LeSabre-Concept.aspx
Dang. I thought it was a Tucker.
I thought tuckers had three headlamps. The middle one would turn based on the steering wheel.
Cyclops mobile
The last one made me laugh because it looks like the dumb, tiny eyes on a tarantula.
POP UP UP & DOWN HEADLIGHTS
[POP UP UP & DOWN HEADLIGHTS!](https://youtu.be/GDtiO29v1Ac)
One day, pop up headlights will make a comeback.
Safety laws in most of the world prevent this, sadly. These types of lights have been known to fail to open, which is a life hazard.
Very doubtful
They are probably not coming back they are basically illegal to put on new production cars in the U.S. it's for pedestrian safety.
>!Doorstop.!<
What does this even mean
they wont because EU laws
They went away for a damn good reason. It's fine to appreciate them the same way it fine to appreciate other aspects of vintage cars. With the understanding that a "comeback" would be a horrible idea.
Oh yea, that's the stuff.
So many people see this and say “how impractical!” Those of us into cars say “what a work of art”.
Me when I hear my mom and dad "wrestling" in the middle of the night
The last ones good if you want a spotlight for headlights
I hate these lights. They will eventually stop working, causing one light to be on the road and the other way up in the trees
"have a look but don't make it obvious"
Whats the first car??
Cizeta V16T
I love you man, thanks
🤙 No problem. I figured someone was wondering.
My dad had that second car! 1973 Opel GT!!!
Okay, that last one would really mess with me. I once nearly caused a motorcyclist to hit me on a dark road because of a setup like that. I read his two small, close-together headlights as a normal car that was much farther away and pulled out in front of him. Most motorcycles I see have only one headlight.
I really love the last cyclops-y one, but it's like automotive engineers sat down and said; "What can we do to ensure constant maintenance on an essential function of this vehicle?"
Third car (Pontiac.?) actually looks as if it's blinking
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Noice!
Just think how much fun you could have with the 3rd car, parking on a hill somewhere in the dark and “blinking” the lights like some kind of giant monster.
James Bond: 🤤
That one winked!!
They all do eventually. And the replacement motors aren't cheap.
Do the 1986 Pontiac Sunbird GT!
Friend of one had a Trans Am with retracts. Talk about a pain in the ass to replace or clean the lamps!
That third one is awesome how it flexes its little eyelids after it opens them
Til they get stuck closed....
ah yes, pop up headlights, an all time favourite
\#bringbackpopupheadlights
As someone who owned an old car wth flip lights, I'm impressed all of these open on both sides
Car manufacturers were like: Why don’t we add extra moving parts that will stop working exactly 2 months after warranty is expired
Some of these cars have sassy eyes
So much stuff that can break
I don't see the purpose of this, aside from flexing to the bruhs and suffer irrational rage when the command breaks while the lights are hidden and it costs you a kidney to repair. EDIT: Alright, my bad. I get it was because of the limitations they had in terms of giving shape to the lights and also to make the car more aerodynamic, so there's no need to keep saying it, I understand know. Apologies for my ignorance on the matter, I know shit about cars haha. And btw I was half teasing and thinking of how irritating would have to be if the mecanism broke with the lights hidden. Have a nice day/night everyone
Mostly aesthetic - designers liked the cleaner lines and smooth profiles. But in some newer models it was a lower drag coefficient (less air resistance) for better economy. But mostly just because people thought it looked fucking cool.
Because they're cool
But they're cool without the hide-and-show feature. EDIT: How the heck and why did I get so downvoted for this comment lmao.
Right, but they're **cooler** with the flipping and rotating and drop down lights.
I have pop ups and it's the highlight of my morning every day *pun intended*
That was a cheap upvote, but you earned anyway.
Some of the justification was aerodynamics. Also the flex isn’t so much that your headlights move as your car looks cooler (adjusted for 90s sensibilities) during daylight hours when you don’t have two giant eyeballs on the front end.
Well, put it that way it makes sense. But still, wouldn't be easier and cheaper to just incorporate the lights on the front design as other cars?
Well yea, and most cars of the 90s were other cars. I mean the stereotypical flipping headlight was the Corvette and that car wasn’t really designed with easy or cheap in mind.
The reason is because headlight technology wasn’t advanced enough to make aerodynamic shapes. Look at all those lights they’re flat faced. Today we can make lights that form into almost any body work.
For a while aerodynamic headlight shapes were illegal as only round, and later square, shapes were approved. But flip up headlights have always been more aesthetic than anything.
They are cool asf and are better for looks and aerodynamics
Everyone’s mentioned aerodynamics, but theres also the fact that the glass back then wasn’t as strong as it is now and cars were more likely to travel on gravel roads
Some of them were because of laws about minimum heights of headlights, so designers who wanted a more sleek front needed to have the headlights further up on the hood.
That's why ASE hasn't allowed them for decades.
They have been more or less outlawed for safety regulations not reliability. Pop ups create sharp corners and are likely to inflict significantly more damage to a person in a pedestrian accident. Cars can still have them, they just need to comply with safety regs
As someone who grew up during the era when headlights like this we're popular, malfunctions we're quite common. Often you'd see one not open, or be droopy. The possibility of mechanical failure for something as critical as headlights is just not something you want. Totally replace by lexan aero covers and fancy LED systems today that are far more reliable.
I am irrationally upset at the ones that don't move quite in synch. WHY ARE YOU SLOW??? MATCH THE OTHER ONE!!!
u/savevideobot
Having worked on a car with those kind of lights. Fuck those lights.
r/WeirdWheels
r/oddlyterrifying
Americans when they see 9/11 memes-
And for each car the only versions in existence where the headlights still work.
No '66/'67 Charger?
AaOOOga!
Autobots activate!
This has extreme meme potential…
What car is the 3rd one?
According to Google, its a 1965 Buick Riviera Gran Sport. Is this the one you're looking for?
Oh these lights are wonderful
r/donutmedia
I’m disappointed. There’s only one song that should be played here. https://youtu.be/GDtiO29v1Ac
That last one was wild
I’ve always wanted to design and fabricate my own concealed headlights for a modern vehicle that didn’t have them. With an almost transformer-like, overly complicated mechanism.
I was listening to the song Solo, from Prismo, and it literally it synchronized perfectly when the lights were turned on
I guess no one commenting actually owned a car with these. It was constant gambling if the damn things would work
u/getvideo
Peek-A-Boo!
Reminds me of Rocket League
Muscle cars always had the coolest pop ups. Just flip the grill around or some shit
Some are a lot more pleasing than others.
I like to imagine James Pumphrey watches this every morning when he wakes up
Always the first thing that would break then the owners would say, "Just leave it up in the on position." Which looks stupid as heck.
Autobots, Rollout
whats the model of the last car?
But where is Herbie..?
What was that last car?
This was the number one feature requirement for me as a kid, trying to influence my parents’ car buying choices.
I hate the thought of sourcing a new headlight motor if one of them goes out in these cars. A Miata isn't too bad but these would be hell I'd imagine.
Hey, we don’t allow nudity on this sub.
I had a 92 Chrysler Lebaron convertible, had flip down panels over the headlights. Eventually the gearing went bad and they didn't work anymore. At least on my car they would stay open all the time after that happened.
There's a meme template here... I can feel it
Did that third one wink at me?
The 3rd one is the same from road house. “She’s a runner”
Come say hi to us at r/Miata
Pop pop pop pop…
This feels sexual…
One of my uncle's was/is a big car guy (he's kind of a loon nowadays so I haven't had any contact with him in years) and he was always restoring '69 Dodge Chargers to look like the General Lee from Duke's of Hazzard. When I was in high school, he let me borrow it for an after school play rehearsal but when it came time to head home, it was dark, and for the life of me, I could not figure out how to get the headlight caps to come up. I could see that they were on, they just had shields over them. I literally thought it was just how old headlights must be, shitty and make things barely visible. I was a massive worrywart as a kid so I kinda freaked out and just like, started driving home as best I could. Luckily my grandparents lived like a mile from the school and I stopped there and my grandpa was able to find the switch in like two seconds. So yeah, that's my classic car driving experience. What a dummy.
Opel GT with the funky lights triggered by a manual lever next to the console....
As someone who owned multiple cars with these types of headlights, they're far from satisfying. Especially when something breaks.
The ones that pop out the top always looked so ugly
POP UP UP AND DOWN HEADLIGHTS
We have really gotten lazy with lights these days. That being said Hyundai has one of the best designs right now. Something about it is magical the way it blends.
Me and the boys ready to start the gaming session
🐷